Concave external glass walls lean out from their bases, curving around the corners to wrap the entire structure.

Six million passengers a year are expected to enter through the glass bubbles that lead into the full-height check-in area, which is scattered with trees and structural columns.

"The main idea was to make it different from other airports," Autoban cofounder Seyhan Ozdemir told Dezeen. "While traveling has become a huge part of our lives, we believe as designers it's our goal to make it as enjoyable as possible for the public by changing the fundamentals of such transportation hubs."

Wooden pods on the top level – described as "cocoons" by the designers – house cafes, bars, shopping kiosks and other amenities including a children's play area and luggage storage space.

"The use of the cocoons is flexible and it is expected they will change over time as the airport terminal evolves," Ozdemir said.

Each is clad in diamond-shaped solid ayous wood shingles covered with oak veneer, creating shells around the different-sized forms.

"We adopted the architectural structure of the terminal and played with micro-architecture within the cavernous space to bring it down to a more human scale, so that it felt like a nest," said Ozdemir.

Similar wooden patterns cover the curved edges of floor plates around atrium spaces and escalators.

Hexagonal skylights puncture the domed roof, interspersed with lights in similar shapes integrated into a frame of triangular sections that cover the ceiling.

Triangular grills also pattern the ceiling of baggage reclaim, mirrored by the layout of floor tiles.

Autoban also created four "Salam Lounges" for business-class passengers with a fast-track security option.

The new terminal at Azerbaijan's Heydar Aliyev International Airport will soon open in the country's capital of Baku. The landmark terminal features interior architecture and experiential design by the globally acclaimed, Istanbul-based Autoban studio.

Bearing all the hallmarks of the multidisciplinary studio's experimental, genre-defying approach, the contemporary interiors overturn airport conventions of cavernous space and impersonal experience.

Taking inspiration from Azerbaijani hospitality, Autoban's Red Dot award-winning design spans the entirety of the terminal's passenger spaces, and includes striking custom-made wooden "cocoons" that create a sense of welcome and discovery, and opportunities to either meet or retreat.

This use of narrative and unconventional forms is typical of Autoban's idiosyncratic approach. For more than a decade, the studio has developed a reputation for its imaginative, human approach to design, creating spaces that are firmly rooted in cultural, social and geographic narratives, yet offer unexpected and thought- provoking experiences to their inhabitants and visitors.

At Heydar Aliyev, their bespoke furnishings and lighting schemes upend airport typologies, opting for tactile natural materials such as wood, stone and textiles, gently and warmly lit. The cocoons – which vary in size and house an array of cafes, kiosks and other amenities – exist at the convergence of architecture and art, creating an inviting, intriguing landscape within the huge transportation hub that challenges expectations of the airport environment.

Autoban have also conceived, designed and furnished four handsomely appointed "Salam Lounges" exclusively for business class use, extending the best of their hospitality expertise to these premium passengers.

Now spanning 65,000 square metres, more than six million passengers a year are expected to pass through the airport, enjoying Autoban's thoughtful, highly functional and memorable gateway to the country and the wider Caucasus region.

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2014/07/25/heydar-aliyev-international-airport-baku-azerbaijan-autoban/feed/5Designs of the Year prize "about architecture rather than politics" says Design Museum directorhttp://www.dezeen.com/2014/07/02/design-museum-designs-of-the-year-prize-zaha-hadid-heydar-aliyev-centre-azerbaijan/
http://www.dezeen.com/2014/07/02/design-museum-designs-of-the-year-prize-zaha-hadid-heydar-aliyev-centre-azerbaijan/#commentsWed, 02 Jul 2014 10:17:43 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=488735News: the Design Museum in London has defended its decision to give its Designs of the Year top prize to a Zaha Hadid building in Azerbaijan, following widespread criticisms of the award on human rights grounds. "It's a prize about architecture rather than politics and its architectural quality is outstanding," Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic told […]

News: the Design Museum in London has defended its decision to give its Designs of the Year top prize to a Zaha Hadid building in Azerbaijan, following widespread criticisms of the award on human rights grounds.

"It's a prize about architecture rather than politics and its architectural quality is outstanding," Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic told Dezeen.

"The jury made a decision on what they thought was the best project. I support that decision but I played no part in making it."

Sudjic also defended the apparent London bias of the prize, which this year saw an all-London jury give the prize to a London-based architect - the fifth consecutive year that a Londoner has won the award.

"If you look at the whole range of what's in the [Designs of the Year exhibition] it's a fascinating overview of international architecture and design," said Sudjic. "[Designs of the Year] is a very international project. It's the one place where you can see that range of projects."

Sudjic's comments follow a backlash on Twitter and in the international media, after the prize for the best international design of the year went to Hadid's Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital.

Former Azerbaijani human rights worker Rebecca Vincent told The Independent that the situation in the country "is getting worse not better".

She added: "It would be really helpful if a well-known figure like Dame Zaha Hadid could raise these issues while working in the country."

The Design Museum responded to the backlash in a statement issued this morning. "There always has and probably always will be a huge amount of debate around the ethical implications of large scale architectural projects," the statement said. "Designs of the Year always provokes a strong reaction, and the conversation around the realities of contemporary architecture is one that the Design Museum wants to be a part of."

It added: "There is no doubt that Zaha Hadid is a hugely talented architect, and this is what the Design of the Year award recognises."

Hadid's building is named after the former ruler of Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev, previously a senior figure in the KGB, ruled the country during the Soviet era and became its first president following independence in 1991.

The building, which sits on Heydar Aliyev Boulevard and is located between Heydar Aliyev International Airport and the city centre, was commissioned by the former leader's son and the current president, Ilham Aliyev, who took power following his father's death in 2003.

Saffet Kaya Bekiroglu, project architect at Zaha Hadid Architects, said that the Heydar Aliyev Center represented a break with the country's Soviet past.

"When you look at Soviet era [architecture in Azerbaijan], it's more like monumental internalised authoritarian buildings. So, this, we wanted to use this building as an opportunity to soften it up and totally depart from that."

The 2014 Designs of the Year jury was chaired by writer Ekow Eshun and consisted of architect Piers Gough, industrial designer Kim Colin, journalist Tina Gaudoin and last year's winner, web designer Ben Terrett. All five are based in London.

Zaha Hadid Architects commented: "The Heydar Aliyev Center is an important educational and cultural building and we are delighted it has won the Design of the Year award.

"The contractor that built the centre won a design-build competition employing ZHA as their architect. This contractor, DiA Holding, are assessed and certified by SGS as complying with OHSAS 18001: 2007, an internationally applied British Standard for best practice in occupational health, safety, and management. The Swiss accrediting authority SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance) is the world’s leading inspection, verification and certification company."

]]>http://www.dezeen.com/2014/07/02/design-museum-designs-of-the-year-prize-zaha-hadid-heydar-aliyev-centre-azerbaijan/feed/32Zaha Hadid's Heydar Aliyev Center wins Design of the Year 2014http://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/30/zaha-hadid-heydar-aliyev-center-wins-design-of-the-year-2014/
http://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/30/zaha-hadid-heydar-aliyev-center-wins-design-of-the-year-2014/#commentsMon, 30 Jun 2014 19:28:21 +0000http://admin.dezeen.com/?p=487320News: architect Zaha Hadid's undulating Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku has been named Design of the Year by London's Design Museum this evening. Zaha Hadid has become the first woman to receive the Design Museum's annual award in its seven-year history, announced during a ceremony at St Martins Lane Hotel in London. The cultural centre, […]

"We're absolutely delighted to receive the Design of the Year Award," said Hadid. "The surface of the Heydar Aliyev Center's external plaza rises and folds to define a sequence of public event spaces within; welcoming, embracing and directing visitors throughout the building."

"It's an architectural landscape where concepts of seamless spatial flow are made real – creating a whole new kind of civic space for the city," she added.

Photograph by Hufton + Crow

The building was designed to host exhibitions, concerts and other cultural activities beneath the folds of glass-fibre-reinforced concrete panels.

"It's beautiful, it's inspiring, it's the clear vision of a singular genius and we thought it was a remarkable piece of work," said writer, broadcaster and jury chair Ekow Eshun.

A shortlist of 70 projects were nominated in categories of architecture, digital, fashion, furniture, graphics, product and transport. All shortlisted projects are on show at the Design Museum until 25 August.

Event design group Simmetrico Network teamed up with Milan architecture studio Arassociati and landscape architects AG&P to develop the proposal for the Azerbaijan pavilion in response to the World Expo 2015 theme, Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.

Employing ecologically responsible architecture principles, the pavilion will be built from natural and recyclable materials with low embodied energy using fast and sustainable construction methods, said the designers.

The superstructure will be constructed from wood and iron, enclosed in a glass and steel envelope with the slatted wooden shell providing an additional protective and decorative layer.

The undulating timber louvers will shield the interior from direct sunlight, with the aim of reducing the building's air conditioning requirements while maintaining transparency and allowing natural light to reach the interior.

Two glazed spheres and another made from curving metal strips will intersect the floors of the four storey building at different levels.

One of the metal and glass structures will poke through a slatted wooden roof and another will protrude from the building's open end.

"The biosphere was chosen as the iconic symbol of the Pavilion, the best metaphor to represent Azerbaijan as a country that protects the growth and the qualitative development of the environment and its natural, human and cultural resources," the architects told Dezeen.

Each of the spheres will accommodate facilities for welcoming visitors and introducing them to different aspects of Azerbaijan's climatic, geographical and morphological diversity.

Azerbaijan's countryside, technology and agriculture will be celebrated alongside displays dedicated to the country's culinary traditions and heterogeneous culture.

Materials typical of Azerbaijani architecture will be given pride of place, with domestic stone used for external paving and wood forming the internal flooring.

A modular design will enable the interior spaces to be reconfigured as required, while the fourth floor is designated as a terrace and restaurant area.

Following the expo, the pavilion will be entirely dismantled and moved the Azerbaijani capital, Baku.

]]>A curving concrete canopy supported by hundreds of columns loops around the perimeter of this renovated beach club in the Azerbaijani capital Baku by Istanbul architects Erginoğlu & Çalışlar (+ slideshow).

Erginoğlu & Çalışlar was asked to improve and expand the existing facilities at the Amburan Beach Club, which were previously concentrated around the beach and swimming pool and had become outdated.

Spread over more than 14 acres in the city's Amburan district, the long and narrow plot featured a scattered array of structures housing various entertainment facilities.

The architects retained the existing buildings and remodelled their facades to integrate them into a consistent scheme that includes new amenities built to utilise the available space.

Stepped terraces around the central pool and the edges of the site were introduced to provide areas for sunbathing and space for bars and cafes that overlook the main social areas.

Influenced by Brazilian beach culture and the free-flowing buildings of Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, Erginoğlu & Çalışlar implemented a visual language of homogenous white surfaces that reflect sunlight and fluid curves that unite the different areas.

"In speaking of beach life and culture, the first and most famous name to spring to mind is, of course, Brazil," the architects explained. "The project aims to carry the spirit of this beautiful country to an entirely different geography."

The sweeping reinforced concrete roof that curves around the edges of the site creates a physical connection between facilities including an events space, restaurant, changing rooms and mini-golf course.

The 9000 square-metre roof is supported by 560 composite pillars that create a forest-like effect, while apertures carved out of the surface allow light to filter through and are mirrored in places by planted beds beneath them.

Achieving a significant cantilever that optimises the shaded area below the roof was awkward in an area regularly affected by earthquakes. The architects' solution was to widen the columns at the top so the roof rests on an inverted cone that spreads the weight over a larger surface.

Instead of using only reinforced concrete, which would lack the required shock-absorbing qualities, the columns are made by injecting concrete into a thick metal pipe.

Details including a louvred roof, a geometric perforated screen around the staircase and the smooth white render applied to all exterior walls evoke the project's Modernist influences.